Process of making tubular rawhide articles



Nov. 5, 1935. H. A. COOK E AL 2,020,0

. PROCESS OF MAKING TUBULAR RAWHJ IDE ARTICLES Filed July 26, 1934 INVENTORS Howarr/A ('00): BY StanleyT 600K Patented Nov. 5, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PROCESS OF MAKING TUBULAR RAWHIDE ARTICLES Application July 26, 1934, Serial No. 737,039

'7 Claims.

This invention relates to tubular rawhide articles, and more particularly to a tubular resilient and flexible rawhide article which may be constructed from a flat strip of rawhide by helically 3" twisting said strip while in a wet condition around an interior mandrel which is later withdrawn after the rawhide tube has been formed.

One object of this invention is to provide a tubular rawhide article of the above nature which may be ground smooth on its surface, and which may be threaded both on the exterior and interior with either straight or tapered threads.

A further object of this invention is to provide a split tubular rawhide plug which cannot ravel or become frayed in use, and which will be practically unaffected by changes in weather conditions.

A further object is to provide a tubular rawhide article of the above nature which will be split along a helical line extending through the thickness thereof, so as to permit lateral expansion and adjustment.

A further object is to provide a shock absorbing bushing for connecting the lower end of a 25" hollow golf club shaft to the head of a golf club.

A further object is to provide a rawhide tube of the above nature which will be simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, easy to fabricate into various articles, and very efficient and durable in use.

With these and other objects in view there has been illustrated on the accompanying drawing one form in which the invention may be conveniently embodied in practice.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 represents a perspective view of a concave wet rawhide strip, and showing an interior mandrel supported thereon, prior to the winding or twisting operation.

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing the appearance of the rawhide tube after the winding operation has been completed.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the split rawhide tubing after it has been dried, surface-ground, separated from the interior mandrel, and trimmed.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a short section or bushing cut from the long tube of rawhide shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a view, partly in section, showing the appearance of the rawhide bushing of Fig. 4 after it has been tapped, exteriorly threaded, and installed in the hollow shank of a golf club head to form a shock absorbing sleeve for connecting said head to the hollow metal shaft of the golf 5 club.

It has been customary in the past to construct rawhide tubing from a solid cylinder by drilling a longitudinal hole therein. This drilling operation, however, has proven quite difficult and expensive, due not only to the tough nature of the material, but also to the tendency of the drill rods to go off center and produce holes which were not concentric with the exterior of the tube. This process was also wasteful of material, due to the rawhide dust produced from the drilling operation.

By means of the present invention, the above and other disadvantages have been overcome by making a rawhide tubing from a flat strip of wet rawhide, which is wound upon an interior mandrel into split tubular form.

Referring now to the drawing in which like reference numerals denote corresponding parts throughout the several views, the improved process of making rawhide tubing is as follows:

An elongated rectangular rawhide strip I0, preferably cut from a tough wet untanned animal hide, such as India water buffalo hide, into rectangular cross-section, is first cut on its bottom or grain surface to provide a series of parallel slits IOa, so as to cause the strip to become concave on its upper surface. A pair of apertures II and I2 will then be punctured at the ends of the strip. The aperture II is adapted to receive a hook I3 of a stationary block I4, and the aperture I2 is slipped over the hook I5 of a rotatable shaft I6, as shown in Fig. l.

The next step of the process is to place a mandrel or core I'I, preferably of metal, having 40 a smooth polished surface, and provided with a pointed end I8 upon the concave top of the strip I0 in the position shown in Fig. 1. With the mandrel held in this position, power will be turned on for rotating the shaft I6, as shown by the arrow in Fig. l. The shaft I6 will be continuously rotated until the rawhide strip I0 has been twisted tightly into the tubular shape shown by the numeral I9 in Fig. 2, the slits Illa on the outer surface thereof causing said shaft to become substantially cylindrical with a slight helical ribbing Mia. The tube [9 will be split from end to end by a continuous helical slit I917 extending from the circumference to the center thereof, this construction making the tube laterally expansible.

In the step of twisting the wet rawhide strip, a considerable proportion of the water originally present will be pressed out.

The next step of the process is to air-dry the twisted strip upon the mandrel at a temperature of from 80 to 100 degrees F., after which it will be kiln-dried at a temperature of from 125 to 150 degrees F. If desired, the exterior surface of the tube [9 will then be ground throughout its entire length by the use of a suitable grinding ma chine, not shown. For some purposes, however, it may be desirable to leave the dried tube l9 in its natural rough helically ribbed condition.

Moreover, the surface of the tube may, if desired, be smoothed and then corrugated or ribbed in any desired pattern for increasing the friction with which it will engage in any receptacle within which it may be located.

It will also be understood that if desired, instead of employing a cylindrical mandrel of uniform diameter, tapered mandrels-and mandrels of non-circular shape may be employed within the spirit and scope of the invention.

It will also be understood that mandrels consisting of a plurality of separate parts may be employed to facilitate the removal thereof, such as three contacting cylindrical rods. 7

It will be further understood that materials other than metal may be employed for the mandrel or core, such as fibre, wood, or even rawhide, in which case the core may be allowed to remain in the finished tube until it is desired to use the latter.

When a metal core is employed, the core will be removed from the tube immediately after the drying and grinding operation, such removal being facilitated by untwisting the ends of the tube slightly, after which the metal core may be readily withdrawn. The tube may then be trimmed at its ends to the desired length, after which it will appear in the condition indicated by the numeral 20 in Fig. 3.

It will be understood that the internal diameter of the rawhide tube may be controlled by using different sized cores, and that the thickness of the tube will depend upon the original thickness of the rawhide strip employed as well as upon the amount of grinding to which the dried twisted tube is subjected. The spirally twisted split tube thus produced according to the present invention may be used in many ways, an example of one application thereof being shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

In Fig. 4, the numeral 2| indicates a short section of tubular rawhide cut from the elongated tube 20 shown in Fig. 3, and being adapted to be used as a shock absorbing bushing or sleeve for "connecting the lower end of a hollow metal golf club shaft 22 to the head 23 of said club. Before inserting the shock absorbing bushing 2! into the socket 24 of the shank of the club head 23, said socket will preferably be tapped with an interior thread 25 to fit a thread 26 formed on the exterior of the rawhide bushing 2|. The interior surface 21 of the bushing 2| will be threaded and made slightly tapered to engage with threads 28 formed from the tapered exterior of the lower end of a hollow golf club shaft.

When it is desired to assemble the golf club, the threaded and tapped shock absorbing bushing 2| will first be screwed into the socket 24 of the club head 23 as far as it will go, after which the threaded end 28 of the golf club shaft will be driven into the tapped interior of the bushing 2| by turning the shaft 22, while holding the 5 club head 23 stationary, or vice versa.

It will be understood that if desired, the end of the hollow club shaft and the interior surface of the bushing, instead of being tapered, may be provided with threads of uniform diameter.

It will also be understood that in order to prevent all possibility of relative rotation between the club head and the shaft, the end of said shaft may be additionally secured to the shank of said club head by a rivet, not shown.

While there has been disclosed in this specification one form in which the invention may be embodied, it is to be understood that this form is shown for the purpose of illustration only, and that the invention is not to be limited to the speeific disclosure but maybe modified and embodied in various other forms without departing from its spirit. In short, the invention includes all the modifications and embodiments coming within the scope of the following claims.

Having thus fully described the invention, what is claimed as new and for which it is desired to secure Letters Patent, is:

1. The process of making a rawhide tube which comprises cutting a rectangular strip from a sheet 30 of wet rawhide, slitting the under surface of said strip along a plurality of parallel lines, placing a mandrel on the upper unslit surface of said strip, winding said strip around said mandrel until said strip assumes a helically split substantially cylindrical shape, and then withdrawing said mandrel.

2. The process of making a rawhide tube which comprises cutting a rectangular strip from a sheet of wet rawhide, placing a mandrel on the upper surface of said strip, winding said strip around said mandrel until said strip assumes a helically split substantially cylindrical shape, and then withdrawing said mandrel.

3. The process of making a rawhide tube which comprises cutting a rectangular strip from a sheet of wet rawhide, placing a smooth metal mandrel on the upper surface of said strip, winding said strip around said mandrel until said strip assumes a helically split substantially cylindrical 5o shape, and then withdrawing said mandrel.

4. The process of making a rawhide tube which comprises cutting a rectangular strip from a sheet of wet rawhide, placing a mandrel on the upper surface of said strip, winding said strip around said mandrel until said strip assumes a helically split substantially cylindrical shape, drying said tubular strip while still on said mandrel, untwisting said strip slightly, and withdrawing said mandrel from the tube.

5. The process of making a rawhide tube which comprises cutting a rectangular strip from a sheet of rawhide, placing a mandrel on the upper surface of said strip, winding said strip around said mandrel until said strip assumes a helically split substantially cylindrical shape, drying said tubular strip while still on said mandrel, and withdrawing said mandrel from the tube.

6. The process of making a rawhide tube which comprises cutting a rectangular strip from a sheet of wet rawhide, placing a mandrel on the upper surface of said strip, winding said strip around said mandrel until said strip assumes a helically split substantially cylindrical shape by twisting one end of said strip while holding the other end thereof stationary, and then withdrawing said mandrel.

7. The process of making a rawhide tube which comprises cutting a rectangular strip from a sheet of wet rawhide, placing a mandrel on the upper surface of said strip, and winding said strip around said mandrel until said strip assumes a helically split substantially cylindrical shape, drying said tubular strip while still on said mandrel, grinding the exterior surface of said tubular strip to a smooth finish, untwisting said strip slightly, and withdrawing said mandrel from the tube.

HOWARD A. COOK. STANLEY T. COOK. 

